Building specialist capability

In March 2017, the Commission sponsored five senior integrity leaders to attend Strategic Responses to Corruption, an executive workshop delivered by the Australian and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) in collaboration with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) NSW. This initiative continues our strong partnership with ANZSOG and our continued engagement with our anti-corruption counterparts across the jurisdictions.

The four day workshop was held at the Macquarie University Graduate School of Management in Sydney. The biennial workshop are for executives and managers with operational responsibility for work areas vulnerable to corruption.

Tony Hassall, Acting Corrective Services Commissioner, attended the workshop said the cycle of learning, reflecting and staying up to date with contemporary approaches and best practice never stops, and in his role as the Commissioner he was always looking for ways to continually improve on Corrective Services’ delivery to the community.

‘The reach of our work at Corrective Services is extensive towards our aim of safe, secure and just offender management. Strong and strategic responses to corruption are not only required in our internal systems and operations, but also in our close working relationships with authorities such as the Public Sector Commission, Corruption and Crime Commission, Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services, the State Coroner and the Prisoner Review Board,’ Mr Hassall said.

While perceptions of a lack of integrity in the corrections environment has dire consequences for the public’s trust its capability, Mr Hassall said, as an organisation, its purpose is predicated on maintenance of strong public trust in established processes and the rule of law.

‘I am grateful to the Public Sector Commission for providing me with the valuable opportunity to participate in the ANZSOG/ICAC workshop in Sydney and for facilitating my attendance.’

‘I have taken insights from the workshop and shared them with our team in the conduct and standards unit. It was a helpful reminder that we can’t be complacent about our approaches to managing integrity and conduct related matters in our workforce,’ Mr Hassall said.

Building capability in our leaders

Five senior integrity leaders were sponsored by the Commission to attend an executive workshop, delivered by ANZSOG in collaboration with the ICAC.

Program benefits

At the conclusion of the workshop participants come away with:

an understanding of the main elements of the control environment, their impacts on corruption prevention and how they integrate

a deeper awareness of what may motivate corrupt conduct and how they can use motivation to create positive change

an understanding of the corruption prevention implications of organisational structures and boundaries

comprehension of the controls inherent in tight operational arrangements, such as best-practice processes and performance metrics

the ability to analyse operational arrangements for efficiency and effectiveness, identify points of weakness and the potential for corruption.